Time Matter(s), Forever
by Noxaura Cille
Summary: It's always a matter of time. ··· *reach out my hands and slowly •squeeze•* ··· •soft-horror, angsty drama•


It was only a matter of time.

* * *

 _ **It's her own fault for coming back. I could never leave Mother.**_

* * *

Bradley's brief return was only the trigger event.

 _"Norman?" Bradley's saccharine voice was there again, at his shoulder. "Norman, what's wrong?"_

 _ **(I dreamt that I drowned you, once, and that was tame compared to the thoughts of you I have now)**_

 _ **(I'm starting to go insane, trapped in my head with padded walls and floors and no windows and—)**_

 _ **(I really don't feel human anymore)**_

 _Smile._

 _"Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing. Absolutely everything is_ _ **(going wrong)**_ _good here. Just... Got a bit_ _ **(a lot a lot a lot a lot)**_ _lost in my head for a second. Where was I?"_

 _ **( —and the thoughts in this room are all circling back around and attacking each other like out-of-control boomerangs that have lost a host to return to because of a change in host position [host is lost] so the thoughts just keep cycling until one eventually destroys the other and—)**_

 _"Oh, alright then. We were just about to head over to my parent's house. I need to see my family, let them know I'm alive."_

 _Mirthless smile._

 _"Right, yeah, I remember now. You sure you want to do this today?"_

 _"I have to know, Norman."_

 _He simply nods, afraid that, should he speak, the wrong words will escape._

* * *

 _ **It's her mother's fault for forgetting her. She'd never have tried to separate Mother and I if her own mother still cared.**_

* * *

 _The house is simple enough for citizens of this town of their caliber_ _(especially with a former hand in the drug trade)_ _, he supposes. From the outside, Norman remembers **that night** and the wind as he ran and the anticipation he felt. He also remembers the rejection, the strong desire to __**harm**_ _from the second night he was here._

 _Unpleasant, to say the least. Norman chooses to say the least about both experiences_ _ **(sex is nothing like the thrill of —)**_

 _But this is where Bradley grew up, and she is his friend._ _ **(Arguably, being Norman's friend is almost as dangerous as being his toy. The damage is the same.)**_ _But he will silently resent everything this house stands for as Bradley makes her reunion._

 _Or, that was how it was supposed to go. Funny, how life works without regard to anyone's wants, wishes, or plans._

 _But now Bradley also resents the house, and something_ _ **(against his will, no no no!)**_ _clicks in the air and they both silently resent everything this house stands for._

 _"...I really am dead."_

 _" I'm sorry, Bradley. I wish_ _ **(I could just reach out and wrap my fingers around your neck and slowly—)**_ _it weren't this way. "_

 _That honey smile, now tainted with salt and vinegar. "Thank you, Norman."_

* * *

 _ **( the way she says his name makes him wonder if she'll scream it as sweetly )**_

* * *

It was a chain reaction, but it was also inevitable. A lineup of dominos that will automatically fall when reset. The situation is always the same.

 _But now Bradley's leaving **(one second she's kissing him and they're on their way to more but Mother says no so Norman says no)** and asking him to come with her._

 _And, really, she shouldn't have said that around Mother but the damage is done and so Norman gives her a "maybe" and quickly flees._

* * *

 _ **It's Mother's fault for being so protective of me.**_

* * *

 _"Leaving? All by yourself, you're just going to_ leave _? And then what?"_

 _"No, Mother, there is a living, breathing person that is waiting for me and we are leaving together!"_

 _"Who is this person?"_

 _"Bradley!"_

 _She chases him, claiming that Bradley's dead and that he's hallucinating and it just fuels his fire._

 _She follows them and demands a conversation with Bradley_ _ **(No Mother no we both know what will happen— but he lets her anyway because he loves her and trusts her judgement)**_ _._

* * *

 _ **It's**_ **my** _ **fault.**_

* * *

And the blood and the body and the rush of the kill and the adrenaline that floods him—

He'll never tell her, but he lets her do these things because she knows what he wants but she has nerve to actually do it.

But he still watches as the car sinks, if only for the assurance that it does.

* * *

 _And nobody will ever come between us._

 _Nobody_ can _ever come between us._

 _You and me, Mother. Forever. Right?_

 _Yes, Norman. Forever._

* * *

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

 _~Nox_


End file.
